1. Stuff three to four plastic grocery bags into the bottom of the paper lunch bag. Gather up the bag just above the plastic bags. Pull up on the sides of the bag to make them straight.

2. Open the bag just enough to place the paint bottle into the center of the bag so that it is standing up. Gather up the bag again around the bottle and secure it with a Chenille stem.

3. Carefully bend down the top of the bag over the bottom of the bag bringing it down over the bottom of the bag as far as possible. Gather up the bag again around the bottom of the bag to form a point at the opposite side of the mouth and secure it with masking tape or a glue gun.

4. Remove the paint bottle.

5. Cut fins and tail fins from craft foam and glue them to the fish. (A Pattern for this craft is available to members.)

6. Paint the fish with acrylic paint or other paint and let it dry.

7. When the paint is dry carefully remove the plastic bags from the fishes mouth.

I just wanted to let you know how much of a blessing you are to me. I am the Nursery Coordinator at my church and I have children up to the age of five. These lessons have really made an impact on my kids. When they graduate up to the next level they leave with a good understanding of Gods' love for them. They come to understand even the little and simple things in life can glorify God. They enjoy the creativity of the different crafts and the stories that relate to the crafts. The crafts have the children talking about the lesson to their parents and of course the parents love the crafts. Thank you. Lorraine Armenta

Whale Puppet Bible Craft for Jonah
and the Whale

Open the whale's mouth and insert
close the mouth to have the big fish swallow him.
Children will love playing with this whale puppet.

Not only does the mouth open and
close, but the tail moves up and
down to make the fish look like it is
swimming.

A Pattern for this craft is available to members on The Resource Room.

"Pin Jonah in the Whale" Bible Craft and Game for Sunday School

What you will need:

Card stock

Crayons or
Markers

Scissors

Tape

Bandana

What to do:

1. Before class tape two pieces
of cardstock
together and draw a large whale shape
covering the entire sheet. (See diagram
to the left.) Also draw a picture of Jonah
that will fit inside the shape of the whale
and make copies or use clip art.
(A Pattern for this craft is available
to members.)

2. In class have your children color the pictures of Jonah.

3. Tape the whale picture on a wall so that your children can reach it easily.

4. Blindfold the children and have them take turns trying to tape Jonah inside the whale. Once each child has taped up his or her Jonah, take off the blindfold and show that child where his or her Jonah picture ended up on the whale.

"What Did the Big Fish Eat?" Jonah and the Whale Review Game

This activity comes from the lessons "Hide and Seek, The Story of Jonah and the Whale" on The Resource Room.

Play a Bean Bag Toss Game

Children of all ages will enjoy tossing Jonah back and forth trying to catch him with a milk jug whale.

This game takes a little preparation, but it is well worth the time. The whales and Jonah bean bags can be reused over and over.

Before class make several Whales from plastic milk jugs found on the Trash to Treasure Craft Page, and bean bags that look like Jonah. Use the pattern and directions
provided on the Material Crafts Page to make the Jonah
Bean Bag Dolls.

"Hide and Seek" Bible Lesson for Older Children

In this lesson children learn about Jonah and how he tried to hide
from God. They learn that they can't hide anything from God. When
they do something wrong, instead of trying to forget about it, or
hiding from it, God wants them to tell him about it, and to ask him
for forgiveness. This Lesson is available on The Resource Room a subscription site.

Free "Hide and Seek" Bible
Lesson for Younger Children

"Find Jonah" Card Game

Play "Find Jonah" Card Game by turning over Jonah cards
and seeing if Jonah is hiding behind the card. If he isn't, they
act out part of the story defined on the card. Card pattern available on The Resource Room.

Sing
a Song and Act It Out

Younger children will enjoy singing
a song about Jonah while they act out the story. Prepare a large
appliance box to look like a whale. Have a child enter the box while
the other students sing the song. At the end of the song when it
says Jonah was spit out, the child in the box should come out of
the box pretending to be spit out. Keep singing the song until all
the children have had a chance to act it out. This song is available
on The Resource Room.

Since this Sunday school is being taken at home we usually begin the class by 4 every Sunday evening. Since I started using your materials the children are here at our place by 2 in the noon itself. The elder ones have started bringing in new children also. Since some kids are uneducated I have to make my lessons more visually based. The memory verse cards have become a success with the kids. The kids keep visiting me during the week days to let them know what is in store for the next week. I am happy for them all. This is because of you. May the Lord Almighty bless you, your family and your ministry. Though we couldn't do much to show our appreciation for your wonderful help we always want you to remember that there are a small group of children who are praying hundreds of miles away for you and your family's peace, happiness and well being.

More Jonah and the Whale Bible Crafts

Face Puppets

Older children make Face Puppets on which different
emotions are depicted. They use the puppets during the lessons by
raising their puppet to indicate when they think Jonah may have
experienced the emotion their puppet depicts.

I must first tell you that I have loved this past year and the wonderful things that I was able to bring to the youngster at my church. I am a coordinator for the kindergarten classes and the curriculum that we have used in the past has been very repetitive and boring. This year, we have truly enjoyed teaching your lessons and I have been inspired with ideas that the Lord has given me after doing some of your lessons. Because of this I have purchased a church membership to allow my teachers to have the same blessing that I have enjoyed.

Thank you so much for your wonderful ideas! I use this site every week for fresh perspectives in teaching my toddlers' Sunday school class. The crafts here are great, and the lessons help to put the Bible stories on a level that is simple for the smallest children to understand. Sarah Albert

I just wanted to tell you how much I LOVE your website. I have used it many times for craft ideas for my church's Thursday night Kids Club. In fact, tonight the kids will be doing Father's Day crafts, and I used two from your site: the peanut jar and the "Dad Rocks" paperweight. You have so many wonderful ideas on your site. You make my job a lot easier. Thanks for the great work, and have a blessed day. Donna